The first time my friend heard Michael Medved’s radio program about the stunning, untold history of Thanksgiving, he was driving to be with friends and family for the holiday.

When he arrived at his destination, he was so inspired about the men and women who shaped America’s founding, that he didn’t want to leave the car because he would have to turn off the radio in the middle of the program!

And now I want you to hear it, so I called Michael Medved, who is a member of CURE’s board, to make sure that he’s offering this fascinating story again. He is! Since 2007, Medved has been telling this story every Thanksgiving on his national radio program.

If you’ve never heard Medved’s Thanksgiving story, then you are about to have all your assumptions about our Thanksgiving holiday challenged.

Particularly, Medved talks about the economic model the pilgrims tried when they first came to New England. We all know the story about the failures and the eventual success of the colony, but what Medved explains is why there was such failure.

Medved tells when the pilgrims arrived, they instituted a socialist collective where everyone would work together and everyone would get a share of the crops.

After a couple of years, the governor of the colony, William Bradford, realized that they were starving to death because their socialist system was taking away the people’s motivation to work for their own food. Through those years, everyone lost a member of their family and eventually half the colony had died.

To reverse the course of destruction, Bradford gave everyone their own private parcel of land and noted in his diary that suddenly all hands were industrious. The crop yield in 1623 was actually in surplus and they held a thanksgiving feast where they were able to provide food for themselves. Because the pilgrims abandoned socialism, we’re now able to have our own Thanksgiving in the most abundant and prosperous nation on earth.

But Medved provides a cautionary tale for America. He reminds us to be vigilant. Medved quotes Bradford where he wrote in his diary: we must see the worth of their labor so we will not lose what our forefathers obtained through so much hardship.

I know you’ll have a busy (and delicious!) Thanksgiving but if you find the time to tune into Michael Medved’s show at 12 noon to 3pm Pacific time* (check your local talk radio schedules) you will not be disappointed.

5 Responses
to “The Secret Pilgrim History”

I love Star and read almost everything she writes. I’ve even sent her donations in the past. She does some great work. Furthermore, I have nothing against Michael Medved. He seems like a decent guy who mostly joins us on the Right. But, Star and Medved should give credit to Rush Limbaugh who told this story in 1993 in his best-selling book See I Told You So. Rush also reads this story, with topical commentary, every year on his top-rated radio show. I listened to him read it yesterday.

You can watch Rush read his story here: http://www.mediaite.com/online/rush-limbaugh-recounts-the-true-story-of-thanksiving-or-how-socialism-almost-killed-the-pilgrims/